Comparing Different PHP Frameworks

PHP is a very popular framework that is used widely for developing web applications. The easiness to learn and use PHP takes it to the top of the scripting languages available today. Now, to develop web applications, you would need a basic platform. PHP framework is such a basic platform that will help you to develop web applications. It provides a structure you will need to develop web applications. If you are using a PHP framework for developing web applications, you can save a lot of time. You will not need to produce repetitive codes. The PHP framework also makes it easier for you to ensure the connection between your database and whatever application you develop from scratch.

Another major thing is that PHP operates on the Model View Controller (MVC) fundamentals. For those who are not familiar with MVC, it is an architectural pattern featured in various popular programming languages which breaks apart your domain logic from your user interface.

There are many PHP frameworks available. So you have to be careful while selecting a PHP framework. All the PHP frameworks do not offer the same support for databases, communities, and an easy to follow user guide. For each of the PHP frameworks, there will be a variety of options and advantages available to it. When you are choosing a framework for your project, try to select the one that will help you to develop your projects faster and work better. Also, make sure that the framework you choose facilitates scalability and long-term maintenance by complying with development standards.

To help you understand each of these frameworks, I will give you some details of each the top PHP frameworks. You can go through each of them and choose the one which is best for you. So here we go:

Different PHP Frameworks

Laravel

Laravel is one of the popular frameworks of PHP. It is a PHP web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax, aiming to take the pain out of web development by easing common tasks, such as authentication, routing, sessions and caching. Laravel also offers accessible and powerful tools that are needed to build large robust applications. This framework will also provide you an inversion control container, expressive migration system, and tightly integrated unit testing support. It is perfectly suited to all types and sizes of projects.

Laravel uses a blade template engine to speed up compiling tasks. There is also an opportunity for the users to include latest features easily. You can reuse the codes easily using the “Bundled modularity”. Creation of database relations appears so simple in Laravel. Artisan CLI comprises of advanced tools to do tasks and migrations. It also offers splendid documentation and an added feature of reverse routing.

When we talk of the negatives of Laravel, there are some to point out. For most of the developers, Laravel appears new and a bit slow. Extending codes and classes becomes a problem for amateur developers. When compared with other platforms, community support is not wide. Also, the method of reverse routing are complex.

2. Codeigniter

Those who require a simple, yet elegant toolkit to build fully-featured web applications can go for CodeIgniter. One of the important features of CodeIgniter is that it requires nearly zero configuration, with no restrictive coding rules, and offers simple solutions to complex application requirements. It provides a rich set of libraries for commonly needed tasks, as well as a simple interface and logical structure to access these libraries.CodeIgniter is very fast and the base system is both lean and agile. CodeIgniter allows for great separation between logic and presentation as it uses MVC Controller approach.

CodeIgniter is really easy to learn, use and deploy. It also provides easy and hassle-free migration from the server hosting to dedicated server hosting. You can easily handle and customize CodeIgniter. It provides an Active Record Implementation that is simple and easy to remember. Easier configuration and customization of configuration files is yet another advantage of CodeIgniter. It comes with a lightweight and extensive Thai user base.

When we come to the negative side of CodeIgniter, this framework is completely PHP based and not very object-oriented in some parts. This framework is mainly company-driven instead of being community-driven. Another disadvantage of CodeIgniter is that it the framework itself has no built-in ORM.

Symfony

If you want to speed up the creation and maintenance of your web applications, it is better you use Symfony. In Symfony, you have the freedom to choose the software components that you want to use. If you want to develop a complex application, you can choose the Full Stack version. A set of prefabricated components that can be rapidly integrated into your application, combined with a clear methodology to help you work both efficiently and effectively on the most complex tasks. To build your own framework according to the functionality you need, choose Brick by Brick and develop specific functionality in your project, use Microframework.

Symfony is really flexible in setting up projects. While using Symfony, the developers get the option of choosing their own ORM. Another important feature is that Symphony components can be incorporated into much bigger projects like Drupal.

Some cons also can be sited in Symfony. The documentation in this framework lacks ample references. Another thing is that the security mechanism of symfony is hard to use. Also, the file parsing in symfony is a bit difficult task.

Yii

Yii is a high-performance framework which has powerful caching support and is explicitly designed to work efficiently with AJAX. Input validation, output filtering, SQL injection and Cross-site scripting prevention are included in Yii for more security. You can develop clean and reusable code, ensuring a clear separation of logic and presentation as it follows the MVC pattern using this framework. You also get an opportunity to model database data in terms of objects and avoid the complexity and tedious nature of writing repetitive SQL statements in Yii. It comes with a set of validators as well as numerous helper methods and widgets that makes collecting form input both safe and easy. Support for writing and running unit tests and functionality tests are available in this framework, along with efficient error handling, and log messages can be categorized, filtered and routed to different destinations.You can also integrate other frameworks data into your Yii powered application.

When using Yii, developers can resort to built-in Ajax for doing tasks such as search, pagination, and Grids. This framework comes with light- weighted codes and provides great security and extensions. Also, Yii is a very easy framework to learn and use.

The main disadvantage of Yii is that it lacks the support of much-needed extensions to create complex applications. When comparing with the other platforms, the availability of experts is not high in number for Yii. Also, the community support is not so massive as developers get for other platforms.

Cake php

Building web applications faster, using code generation features to rapidly build prototypes is easy with CakePHP. CakePHP does not contain any complicated configuration. You just have to set up the database and you can start. This framework comes with built-in tools for validation and protection against SQL injection, form tampering and more, to help keep your application safe and secure are also available in SQL. The framework has built-in translations, database access, caching, validation, authentication and more. CakePHP comes with clean MVC conventions that will guide you in developing your application. It comes in basic organizational structure, from filenames to database table names, to keep your entire application consistent and logical.

Great community support is the main advantage of CakePHP. Thus you can clear any queries about website development in an effective way. The ORM of this framework which helps developers to create excellent queries as well as codes is very useful. Also, there are fantastic plugins available to keep the codes clean as well as elegant.

While considering the disadvantages of CakePHP, The main problem are the bulky codes. The codes for doing a particular task look huge. CakePHP is one of the slowest performing platforms when compared with other PHP frameworks. The autoloading options work only in a minimum pace.

Zend Framework

This is an open-source framework for developing web applications, using object-oriented code. Zend Framework offers a robust, high-performance MVC implementation with the components in the standard library that form a powerful and extensible framework when combined. This framework comes with a modular base so you can use building blocks in combination with other applications or frameworks. It is highly extensible and adapting to your needs. Just load the components you need, to take advantage of the components as individual libraries, instead of the framework as a whole, cutting down on unnecessary project bloat as Zend is a collection of classes. You can also implement client libraries to access the most popular web services available. Also, you are free to implement the framework and components in whatever way you need, free of predefined restraints.

With the Zend framework, you can tailor your website in any manner you like with different customising tools available with the framework. A Zend developer can take the advantage of code reusability and inheritance for his application because this framework has everything in the form of an object. It has HTML5 form features available from within the framework and supports input types like Email, URL, Phone number, date pickers and search etc. Thousands of Zend certified PHP developers available in the industry will help other developers in getting support from Zend community for any type of issues that arise during the development process. A PHP website that is developed in Zend platform is usually runs faster than that of any other framework.

To get started with Zend is not so easy when compared with the other PHP frameworks. It will be a great difficulty for the beginners to use Zend because there are no enough resources. The plugins available for Zend are very costly. The huge documentation of Zend sometimes becomes confusing for the developers.

All these frameworks have their own features and advantages. They also share some common features because all of them are PHP frameworks. Their unique advantages and lapses make them different from each other. So choose the framework that best suits you and your project. The skill and experience of the developers also matter. You have to be quite sure of the framework you choose before starting your project in it.